Version 1.1
The aim of this hypothesis is to investigate the inherent impacts of the asset base makeup on leakage. An experiment has been carried out to investigate leakage by material type; in order to do this, DMAs were statistically clustered into groups of similar material makeup. DMAs containing a higher than average proportion of iron pipe were observed, in general, to have a higher leakage than others.
It is generally accepted that the makeup of the asset base, particularly in terms of age and material, affects leakage. However, it is also hypothesised that leakage on PE pipes are not being detected to the same extent as on other materials, and that a ‘patchwork quilt’ makeup of a DMA, in which repeated partial pipe replacement has led to a mix of materials, has an adverse effect on leakage. This experiment will aim to analyse the correlation between asset base makeup and leakage, and in conjunction with other experiments will aim to identify the possibility that leakage may be under-reported on DMAs with a prevalence of certain material types.
The following datasets are used in the investigation of this hypothesis:
This data was sourced from the Nightflow Mastersheet Workbook.
This data summarises 922 unique DMAs. This is not an exhaustive record of DMAs; as such, this experiment is unique in using this data, rather than the main Nightflow totals, as a source of data. The variables of interest, in this report, include a series of material proportions indicating the material constituency of the DMA, the length of pipe in each DMA, and the recorded leakage (in \(m^3/hr\)). The table below shows shows an example of this data.
| DMA | Length | Asbestos | Iron | Other | PE | PVC | Steel | Unknown | Leakage.m3.hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL31 | 9.93 | 0.00 | 0.92 | 0 | 0.06 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.01 | 64.70 |
| WM10 | 5.57 | 0.00 | 0.78 | 0 | 0.19 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.01 | 17.50 |
| TR07 | 16.68 | 0.08 | 0.53 | 0 | 0.06 | 0.30 | 0 | 0.03 | 47.20 |
| OS14 | 9.80 | 0.00 | 0.96 | 0 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 26.48 |
| LS04 | 1.30 | 0.00 | 0.26 | 0 | 0.74 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.47 |
| DD12 | 4.52 | 0.00 | 0.75 | 0 | 0.18 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.07 | 10.71 |
The map below provides a graphical visualisation of leakage by area.